Misty Fjords, Alaska

Misty Fjords Ranger District, on the Tongass National Forest in Alaska, contains a Lockheed Electra wreck site that was examined by TIGHAR for comparison with material recovered from Nikumaroro. However, the site has a fascinating and tragic history of its own. Following is the text of TIGHAR's 2004 report on the site, filed with the USDA Forest Service and Alaska State Historic Preservation Officer.

NC 14915: A Survey of the Harold Gillam Lockheed Electra Airplane Crash Site

49-KET-00910

Ketchikan/Misty Fjords Ranger District

Tongass National Forest, Alaska

by The International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery (TIGHAR)

May 03, 2005

Introduction

On January 5, 1943 noted bush pilot Harold Gillam crash landed a Lockheed Electra 10B twin engine aircraft on a mountainside approximately thirty miles southeast of Ketchikan, Alaska. The plane, built in 1934 as serial number 1021 , was registered as NC14915 and owned by Morrison-Knudsen, a construction company building airports throughout Alaska. Five passengers were aboard the flight enroute from Seattle, Washington to Anchorage, Alaska via a fuel stop at Annette Island. The disregard of a strong storm warning, icing conditions, an outdated aeronautical chart, misinterpreted radio navigation signals and ultimately the failure of the left engine resulted in the accident.

All aboard the aircraft survived the initial crash, but a young woman died of injuries two days later. Six days after the accident Gillam left the passengers in an attempt to find help. His body was found almost a month later. The remaining survivors set up camps first at the wreckage and later down close to the base of the mountain where chances of being seen from the air were improved. Thirty-three days after the accident, all were rescued by U.S. Coast Guard personnel and members of the Alaskan Territorial Guard arriving on scene aboard the cutter McLane.

From August 2-5, 2004 a seven person team composed of members of The International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery (TIGHAR) and personnel from the Ketchikan/Misty Fjords Ranger District of the Tongass National Forest relocated the wreck site and briefly documented its character by surface survey. Several artifacts were recovered from the site for study purposes with the permission of the United States Forest Service (USFS). This is the report of TIGHAR’s archaeological fieldwork.

Purpose

In the course of sixteen years of research into the 1937 disappearance of aviation pioneers Amelia Earhart and Fred Noonan, TIGHAR has found four artifacts believed to be dados---aluminum panels that are located along the deck/fuselage interface inside commercial aircraft---on Nikumaroro Island in the Republic of Kiribati. These objects may be from Earhart’s Lockheed Electra 10E, which according to TIGHAR’s hypothesis Earhart landed on Nikumaroro before expiring there.

Unfortunately, specifications for the Lockheed Electra discovered to date do not provide details about whatever dado-like objects Earhart’s aircraft may have had, and surviving Electras have all experienced so much interior modification that they cannot be trusted to reflect original conditions. To discover whether Electras of Earhart’s day had dado-like objects similar, or perhaps identical, to those found on Nikumaroro, TIGHAR needs to examine contemporary wreck sites.

Thus far, two aircraft wreck sites have been determined as the best analogs to Earhart’s plane. One of these crashed on the St. Joe National Forest of Idaho in 1936. This site was examined by TIGHAR and USFS personnel July 9-10, 2004. It was found that the wreckage had been extensively salvaged to the point where very little of the aircraft remained and consequently no artifacts resembling dados. The second aircraft site is the Gillam crash of 1943. Accordingly, the core purpose of TIGHAR’s fieldwork on the Tongass National Forest of Alaska was to identify, describe and recover any dados that might be found within the NC14915 wreck site. This required that the site be located and carefully examined.

Background Research

Extensive historical research was conducted by John T. Autrey and Martin V. Stanford, Archaeologists of the Ketchikan/Misty Fjords Ranger District, Tongass National Forest resulting in a detailed report to determine the eligibility of the Gillam crash site for inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places. TIGHAR member Arthur Rypinski also conducted extensive research. All found that the circumstances of the accident had been well documented in the Civil Aeronautics Board report and local media. Additional information was found in the U.S. Coast Guard archives and recent secondary sources.

The plane broke out of a ragged overcast at an elevation of about 2,500 feet, headed in a northerly direction and parallel to a ridge of mountains. There were other mountains ahead. Gillam turned off the right engine, headed toward a clearing on the side of the mountain, and pulled the plane up into a stalled attitude for a crash landing. The right wing contacted and sheared two tall trees at mid-height, and the plane swerved to the right about 90 degrees, struck the ground on the stub of the broken right wing and bottom of the fuselage, and stopped in an upright position.

Another account based on information from the survivors indicated:

…the fuselage buckled and broke as they slowed almost to a halt before sliding into a deep gully burying them in snow just as another tree came down on top of them. They were now completely camouflaged and hidden from view.

These descriptions and other survivor accounts indicated that there was no post-crash fire, and that the fuselage of the aircraft may have been sufficiently well preserved to retain intact dados if present. These accounts, and a map drawn by local aviation enthusiast Don “Bucky” Dawson, provided enough location details to allow Forest Service personnel to re-locate the crash site by air reconnaissance on July 27, 2004. Global Positioning Satellite (GPS) coordinates were obtained during the fly-over that would prove essential to locating the wreckage on foot in the densely wooded environment.

Fieldwork

Field research on site at 49-KET-00910 was executed on August 3-4, 2004. TIGHAR’s team consisted of four members:

Project Director: Walt Holm

Project Field Manager: Bill Carter

Deputy Project Archaeologist: Gary Quigg

Field Technician: John Clauss

(TIGHAR’s Project Archaeologist Thomas F. King, PhD was unavailable to be on site.)

We were accompanied and assisted by the following personnel from the Ketchikan/Misty Fjords Ranger District, Tongass National Forest:

Archaeologist: Martin Stanford

Forestry Technician: Chris Prew

Wildlife Technician: Jeff Garnette

On August 2, two floatplanes from Taquan Air shuttled all personnel and gear from Ketchikan to Badger Bay where the team began a backpacking trek to a base campsite pre-selected by air reconnaissance. Reaching the base campsite in the late morning of the second day, all personnel except Mr. Garnette (who was suffering from a sprained back) proceeded to the wreck site after pitching camp.

Following a heading toward the GPS coordinates established by a fly-over the previous week, the wreckage was located late in the afternoon of August 3. Due to the late hour of arrival at the crash site the team performed an initial inspection of the area, which revealed the wreckage remained tightly concentrated along a steep drainage. All major aircraft components appeared present except for the engines, propellers, control wheels and rudders. Site management duties for the following day were then discussed before the group hiked back to base camp for the evening.

TIGHAR/USFS survey team on wreck site.

On the morning of August 4, all participants except Mr. Stanford (who was suffering from a sprained knee) returned to the wreckage site and commenced survey, documentation and sampling duties. Walt Holm and Gary Quigg laid out a measured baseline, identifying significant features within the wreckage, taking reference photographs, and recording GPS coordinates and elevations. Bill Carter and John Clauss identified, measured, photographed and then carefully removed 16 artifacts from the wreckage after they had been reconciled to the baseline for location. Gary Quigg prepared a measured sketch-map (Appendix 1) of the wreckage site while Walt Holm, Chris Prew and Jeff Garnette scoured the outlying areas of the drainage for any additional artifacts, marking them with flagging tape. Work was completed by about 4pm, whereupon the group packed all gear and retired from the site. No permanent markers were left on or around the site.

Site Description

The wreckage is concentrated between 1737 feet and 1689 feet elevation. It is distributed for 19 linear meters along a narrow (less than 1m), steep drainage that runs east-northeast down to a muskeg valley. This drainage, running through metamorphic rubble over a series of rock outcrops and logs forming small waterfalls, is continually filled with varying levels of water in warmer months due to the temperate rain forest environment. Winter snowfall averages 32 inches in Ketchikan with annual rainfall totaling 132 inches. Pooling water levels were 5cm or less and water was cascading over a small section of the wreckage during our survey. The sides of the drainage are equally steep and densely forested with both mountain and western hemlock, Sitka spruce, and knee to waist high under story vegetation. The primary wreckage concentration includes the bottom of the instrument panel and controls (sans wheels), cockpit, bulkhead and cockpit door, auxiliary fuel tank, left wing, partial right wing (inverted with exposed landing gear retracted), cowling sections, torn fuselage sections, empennage (sans rudders), and the severed outboard right wing section (inverted). Post crash damage over time has resulted from compression by snowfall, impact by deadfall, and salvage efforts.

The fuselage area is particularly compromised. Most of the roof and sides of the fuselage have been separated from the deck. Much of the fuselage behind station 239 is crushed and hidden from view under the inverted right wing section. This wing was inverted during the removal of the right engine. Overall, it appears the entire debris field has moved very little since the time of the accident.

Of note among the remnants of the fuselage is the aluminum auxiliary fuel tank. It is similar to the auxiliary tanks known to have been mounted in the Earhart Electra. Still structurally sound with steel bands securing it to the floor, the tank sustained only moderate damage. The tank’s mounting bands were carefully cut, and the tank was moved to allow for the removal of dado-like objects for laboratory examination. The tank was then replaced as found.

Removal of mounting bands on auxiliary fuel tank.

A pair of c.1940 women’s shoes were found in the exposed fuselage section. These shoes most likely belonged to Susan Batzer, the young stenographer employed by Morrison-Knudsen who expired 48 hours after the accident from injuries sustained in the crash landing. Ms. Batzer’s body was recovered a month after the survivors were rescued.

Very little wreckage is apparent on the slopes above the streambed. Exceptions include a section of engine cowling 13 meters north/northwest of the baseline at 21 meters down from the datum, and two engine cylinders with one oil cooler 10 meters south/southeast of the baseline at 18 meters down from the datum. The overall absence of engine components reflects the known removal of the right engine for exhibition in the Pioneer Air Museum of Fairbanks and the propensity for engines to separate from the nacelles upon impact with terrain.

An additional concentration of artifacts appears to be the remains of an improvised latrine established by the wreck’s survivors, located 19 meters south/southwest of the baseline at 30 meters down from the datum point. The latrine area contains the toilet seat and aluminum chamber pot from the aircraft lavatory, as well as the remnants of a tin can.

Wreck survivors’ latrine area.

Despite the crash landing, over 60 years of heavy snowfall and continuing water flow, salvage operations and possibly some looting activity, most of the aircraft remains intact though significantly damaged. The left wing exhibits the faded USA flying flag insignia required for all civilian aircraft operating in Alaskan airspace during World War II. The cowling sections, horizontal and vertical stabilizers as well as the severed portion of the right wing also retain clear evidence of their original paint scheme.

Aircraft Parts Recovered

Having received permission from United States Forest Service personnel to remove parts of the wreckage for research, TIGHAR members Bill Carter and John Clauss extricated the following sixteen artifacts for laboratory study:

2-9-A-1

Surface covering fragment 14.6cm x 9.6cm x 1mm

Possible floor covering material fragment, but inconsistent with known floor covering examples recovered. Orange in color, with one 2cm wide band along one edge darker from apparent protection by another object overlaying it and protecting it from deterioration by exposure to light and other elements. Possibly rubber or linoleum, this fragment shows evidence of a blue/greenish residue that appears to match the color of the identified floor covering. It is possible that this fragment is from a mat that was lying on, or adhered to, the blue-green floor covering.

2-9-A-2

Surface covering fragment 9.5cm x 5.5cm x 1mm

This blue/green surface covering (flooring?) material fragment, possibly linoleum, features one edge that has curled under.

2-9-A-3

Foil fragment 2.5cm x 2cm

A fragment of aluminum foil insulation/vapor barrier.

2-9-A-4

Wooden assembly fragment 29cm x 1.5cm x 1.5cm

A section of thin wood veneer, that covered a portion of a cabin wall, nailed to a tacking strip mounted under cabin window.

2-9-A-5

Leather fragment 15cm x 10cm

This fragment of leather or artificial leather is dark brown in color.

2-9-A-6

Channel fragment 22.6cm x 4.8cm x 1mm

Found lying loose in the drainage, this aluminum “U” channel section of an unknown structural member is coated on all surfaces with blue protective paint, contains remnants of 3 ferrous screws, remnants of 16 sheared rivets, and features two manufactured folded edges of 2.5cm.

2-9-A-7

Heater duct 25cm x 19cm x 1mm

This composite structure of Alclad and non-Alclad aluminum has some intact rivets and screws as well as remnants of an adhesive and blue protective paint. It was removed from the starboard side of the fuselage near the floor.

This object, removed from the starboard side of the fuselage just aft of the main beam near the floor, is a single lightweight aluminum sheet that includes a cup holder, a 180 degree 2cm flange on the bottom edge, and a slightly rolled edge on the top. Ten slot-head mounting screws along the bottom edge remain attached, and areas of blue protective paint remain.

2-9-A-10

Dado 74.5cm x 14cm (tapering to 9cm) x 1mm

The eight slot-head mounting screws holding this object in place were removed allowing for the careful extraction of a complete, isolated, structure. Taken from the starboard side of the fuselage just above the heater duct, it stretched from the cockpit bulkhead to a point just forward of the main beam. This lightweight aluminum sheet features a cup holder, and is coated on interior surfaces with blue protective paint. Two centimeters of the bottom edge is bent over 180 degrees, through which the screws are attached to the underlying structure.

2-9-A-11

Heater duct 51.5cm x 12.5cm x 1mm

Removed from the starboard side of the fuselage near the floor, this flattened duct section consists of Alclad and non-Alclad aluminum sandwiching asbestos. Long edges are bent into a 90 degree flange and an 180 degree flange respectively.

2-9-A-12

Flooring section 25cm x 13cm

A section of wooden flooring removed from under the auxiliary fuel tank.

2-9-A-13

Window frame 11cm x 3cm

Aluminum edging—probably part of a window frame.

2-9-A-14

Dado/Heater Duct/Asbestos 1.4m x .6m

Removed from behind the auxiliary fuel tank, this composite structure of Alclad and non-Alclad aluminum is a section of heater duct covered with heavy asbestos matting and a lightweight aluminum dado. Rivets, screws and remnants of blue protective paint remain.

2-9-A-15

Glass fragment 6.7cm x 4.2cm x 2mm

Predominantly clear in character, this shard has a slight greenish hue. The thickness of the fragment suggests it may be from the cockpit windows, but the subtle green coloring is puzzling. Another possibility of origin for this piece may be an object that was carried aboard.

2-9-A-16

Glass fragment 9cm x 6cm x 1mm

This glass is clear and features a slight curvature with one finished edge. Probably from a cabin window (Lockheed part number 40522), the type of glass and the 1/16th inch thickness match the specifications for early Electra cabin windows. These windows contain the only curved glass in the aircraft, with the exception of the landing light covers in the nose.

Interpretation

The location and condition of the wreckage is consistent with contemporary accounts of the crash landing by survivors. Lockheed Electra aircraft wrecks that were not consumed by post-crash fires are extremely rare. Save for absence of some components, most notably the engines, propellers, rudders and control wheels, and the inverted position of the right wing and resulting crushed fuselage, NC14915 lies in situ most likely where it came to rest on January 5, 1943.

In the 1980s, salvors in association with the Tongass Historical Society visited the site to recover artifacts for preservation and exhibition. One engine cylinder and the right rudder were recovered in 1981. The right engine, complete with its propeller, and left rudder (now on exhibit at the Pioneer Air Museum in Fairbanks) were recovered in 1984 by helicopter airlift.

The left engine, although unknown at the time of this survey, remains buried on the south side of the drainage just forward of the left wing. While two cylinders, one oil cooler and two sections of exhaust manifold from an engine were located during the survey, no other engine parts were noted. The extremely rugged terrain, dense forest and limited time available on site did not allow for the investigation of a larger area in which additional artifacts might be recorded. Neither could the initial impact site be ascertained due to these limitations.
The rudders and three of the four propeller blades are currently in the possession of Randy Acord of the Pioneer Air Museum in Fairbanks and Don “Bucky” Dawson of Ketchikan, being held for the Tongass Historical Society. The right engine propeller is complete and remains attached to the engine; now on exhibit in Fairbanks. Mr. Dawson, who has visited the wreckage on five occasions and participated in the salvage operations, has informed TIGHAR that he is storing one cylinder and one propeller blade from the left engine for the Tongass Historical Society, and that the other propeller blade remains at the wreck site. The TIGHAR/USFS survey team was unable to locate this remaining blade in situ.

The missing control wheels are most likely the result of previous salvage or looting. Mr. Dawson indicated that the wheels were missing at the time of his first visit to the site. In the summer of 1943, a salvage crew from Ellis Airlines visited the wreckage and obtained usable engine parts, a radio and flight instruments. Others have visited the site over the years, motivated to the arduous trek by need for parts, want of souvenirs or curiosity.

Both TIGHAR and the United States Forest Service agree that the exact location of the wreckage must be kept strictly confidential in order to protect the site from additional salvage and looting. Thus, this report contains no GPS coordinates nor anything other than a general description of the area. While remote and in rugged wilderness country, it is possible that curio seekers visiting the site may cause further loss of integrity. Since the designation of Misty Fjords as a National Wilderness Area, helicopters are not allowed to land in the area, thus challenging the unauthorized recovery of major wreckage components.

Research Results

Some of the aluminum composite structures recovered from 49-KET-00910 are dados, but they do not resemble the dado-like objects recovered from Nikumaroro. This lack of similarity between dados from the Gillam site and the purported dados from Nikumaroro has resulted in a new hypothesis about these components.

The auxiliary fuel tank documented in the wreckage of NC14915 was most likely a necessary modification prompted by unusually long distances flown in service to Morrison-Knudsen. The tank was installed in the left side of the cabin just aft of the main beam, which required the removal of two passenger seats. Heater ducts pass along either side of the cabin floor where it meets the cabin walls. Thus, the left heater duct passed closely beside the auxiliary fuel tank. In order to prevent the heat from the duct reaching the fuel tank, a layer of heavy asbestos matting was installed over the ductwork and held in place by a dado attached to the cabin wall and through the asbestos to the heater duct.

Auxiliary fuel tank pulled aside revealing wooden mounting slats and asbestos matting installed over the heater duct and held in place by a dado.

The Gillam wreckage has provided documentation of an insulating barrier between the heater duct and a fuel tank installed in an Electra cabin. This has led to the formulation of a new hypothesis regarding the function of the structures found on Nikumaroro that TIGHAR thought may have been dados. We have tested the hypothesis that the objects found on Nikumaroro were dados from a Lockheed Electra and found the results to be negative. We now suggest that these objects are, in fact, shields used as an insulating barrier to protect the auxiliary fuel tanks from the ductwork carrying hot air through the cabin. (Appendices 3 and 4)

TIGHAR had originally postulated that the dado-like objects from Nikumaroro had been installed along the juncture of the cabin wall and floor. However, as the Gillam wreckage exemplifies, passenger cabins of Lockheed Electras were heated with hot air vented into aluminum ducts located where the walls meet the floor. In order for the dado-like objects to function as actual dados (protecting control cables) they would have to be mounted behind the heater ducts. Existing photos show standard heating ducts were installed in Earhart’s Electra.

This photo clearly shows the heater ducts installed in the cabin of NR16020. Although it cannot be determined from this image whether the ducts extend forward beside the fuel tanks, hot air entered the ducts forward of the location of the tank in NR14915.

There are rust marks at holes located along the top edge of the most intact dado-like object from Nikumaroro that indicate the former presence of a rectangular hardware attachment fixture similar to a timmerman nut (Appendix 3). Initially, it was thought that these holes allowed for hardware to attach the structure to some part of the aircraft such as the interior cabin wall. It appears now, after comparing the Nikumaroro structures with the known dados from the Gillam site, that what were presumed to be mounting holes are openings for fasteners to secure insulation to the heat shields (formerly presumed to be dados). There were also remnants of quarter inch thick insulating fabric that resembled cork covered in a blue, woven fabric on this most complete putative heat shield from Nikumaroro.

The absence of mounting holes on the top edge of these structures indicates that they were attached only by means of screws or nails through the 90-degree flange found on the bottom of the structures. The presence of what appear to be pry marks on the bottom of the flange on the Nikumaroro structures suggests nails were used. The floor of Lockheed Electras, as the Gillam wreck confirms, was comprised of plywood covered with linoleum nailed into place.

Thus, we hypothesize now that the Nikumaroro objects formerly known as dados are heat shields. They appear to have been freestanding cantilevered structures nailed to the floor standing end to end along the heater ducts. There are no extant photographs of the cabin of the Earhart Electra immediately prior to the installation of the auxiliary fuel tanks. The interior photos that do exist (see above) do not illuminate the narrow space between the tanks and the cabin wall.

This conceptual image of the purported heat shields installed in the Earhart Electra shows one installed between the heater duct and the location of the auxiliary fuel tanks with the insulated side facing the ductwork.

It is possible that asbestos matting was used on NR16020 just as it was used on NC14915. However, the quantity of asbestos that would have been required in the Earhart Electra would carry a substantial weight penalty for a record world flight attempt. The putative heat shields found on Nikumaroro are, by comparison, very lightweight. The examination of the Gillam wreckage provided solid evidence to support the inclusion of some form of insulating shield adjacent to the heater ductwork within the Earhart Electra. Further research is necessary.

For the first time TIGHAR closely examined a Lockheed Electra crash site that shows a remarkably small incidence of disturbance, and remains almost complete. Throughout the wreckage, the team observed the same blue protective paint coating on interior aluminum surfaces found at the Livermore/Haid crash site on the St. Joe National Forest (NC 14935). Quite distinctive and believed to be a protective paint coating applied to metal components prior to the assembly of the aircraft to resist corrosion, this material may be useful for comparison with some enigmatic remnants of surface coating detected on a large section of aluminum aircraft skin found on Nikumaroro. A number of the artifacts recovered from the Gillam aircraft wreckage exhibit this blue coating. The glass fragments and floor covering material recovered may also be useful for comparison to like objects recovered from Nikumaroro. Additionally, the existence of an auxiliary fuel tank, a feature consistent with the Earhart Electra, may allow for further comparison as research progresses.

Eligibility for the National Register of Historic Places

In its proposal to the United States Forest Service to conduct this survey, TIGHAR offered the opinion that the Gillam crash site is eligible for the National Register of Historic Places. We believe such eligibility is appropriate under National Register criteria “a” for association with aviation (particularly Alaska aviation) history and “d” as a source of useful historical information including, but not limited to, the information that TIGHAR seeks in connection with testing the Nikumaroro Hypothesis for Amelia Earhart’s disappearance.

Archaeologists John Autrey and Martin Stanford of the Ketchikan/Misty Fjords Ranger District, Tongass National Forest, submitted a determination of eligibility report (CRM Report 20041005520008) to the State Historic Preservation Officer (SHPO) of Alaska. Within this report Autrey and Stanford asserted that the Gillam crash site, 49-KET-00910, was eligible for the National Register of Historic Places under criteria “b” for its association with Harold Gillam, and under criteria “d” as a source for information that may answer research questions from the Nikumaroro Hypothesis for Amelia Earhart’s disappearance. Unfortunately, the Alaska SHPO disagreed with TIGHAR and the NFS, asserting that the Gillam crash site is not worthy of protection under the National Register of Historic Places.

Acknowledgements

TIGHAR is grateful to the following individuals for their gracious assistance, without whom this project could not have been completed: